


Soap&Water

by gnsmk



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Mentions of Prostitution, implied prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-26
Updated: 2014-03-26
Packaged: 2018-01-17 01:42:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1369309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gnsmk/pseuds/gnsmk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi sits and watches Mike fill his paperwork every time Erwin leaves. If anyone asked Levi would say he was supervising the giant oaf, as if he could be trusted to file the reports without a keen eye to supervise, and Mike would chuckle  and say he's stopping the other man terrorising the new recruits. Neither would say waiting. No one ever asks. </p>
<p>Spoilers for chapter 49.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soap&Water

Levi sits and watches Mike fill his paperwork every time Erwin leaves. If anyone asked Levi would say he was supervising the giant oaf, as if he could be trusted to file the reports without a keen eye to supervise, and Mike would chuckle and say he's stopping the other man terrorising the new recruits. Neither would say waiting. No one ever asks. 

They're not waiting because Erwin's a grown ass man and can take care of himself, Levi snaps at Mike the very first time he comes into the room, cradling his own tea cup and setting one on the desk for Mike. Mike's nose twitches and Levi can tell it's because of the extra sugar he'd put in it, distractedly, he'll pretend it's on purpose. The taller man doesn't comment anyway, didn't ask in the first place, and drinks the tea despite it being too sweet for his tastes. 

Erwin does things that even Levi didn't do (almost did, almost had to, almost until this golden haired commander came swooping down and snatched him up) and almost no one knows. Mike knows, and Levi thinks Hanji has some sort of an idea but she's always too caught up in her experiments to care. She'd probably laugh if she knew anyway, if she saw how Mike would scratch at his paperwork and Levi would sip his tea and how both their heads would jerk when they heard the sound of approaching hooves. 

There's still at least half an hour before they'll hear the hooves tonight. It's rare for Erwin's sponsors to release him before the midnight call, and not unheard of for certain patrons to keep him until morning. Levi hates those nights. He stays and nurses his empty cup long after Mike has retired to bed, and Erwin always chides him upon his return. 

Currently Levi has his lips pursed against the rim of his cup, eyes unfocused and Mike's form a blur as he shuffles his papers about. His mind drifts to the nobility who rent out the commander for a night and not for the first time he wonders how far talk of it goes. 

On the few occasions Levi accompanies Erwin to public events he watches and wonders if everyone knows. He wonders if they all know what Erwin does, but never mention it for proprieties sake, or perhaps they all know and gossip about it in his absence, brag about what they made the poster boy of a commander do for them. They'd probably like to think they've damaged his pride and wrecked him with their sordid actions, but when it comes to keeping the Survey Crops afloat Erwin is shameless with his lack of pride, and entertains Levi with stories about the tame acts the nobility consider scandalous. 

Or perhaps they're oblivious and they think they're special, that the commander is exclusively theirs. The smiles he sees Erwin flash the women, and some of their husbands, suggests this is most likely. A charming smile, yet with a hint of more to come, but always when no one else is looking. No one else except Levi, but Erwin knows this, expects it in fact, and when the wife of Duke So-and-So turns away to blush and giggle politely behind her hand, those blue eyes always find the grey. 

They give him trinkets as well as money sometimes. Expensive little gifts of jewellery that Erwin wears out carefully, just once, so the patron can see and think they're appreciated. Think they've tamed and domesticated the commander by collaring him with a gaudy ring on his finger, or a brooch on the lapel of his uniform jacket. Whatever it is, as soon as they retire for the night Erwin slips it off and pockets it to be sold, a job Moblit is usually charged with, having a good eye for such things and an impressive level of discretion. 

Hooves thump on the packed dirt outside and Levi jerks, cold tea splashes his fingers as it sloshes in the cup and he sets it down with a grimace. He dries his fingers with a handkerchief whilst Mike gathers his papers in a neat pile, tapping them smartly against the desk top to straighten them, and the door opens as he sets them down. Erwin's hair is mussed, though Levi isn't sure if that's from whoever he was with tonight to the ride back, either way his own fingers twitch a little as Erwin smoothes it himself with the palm of his hand.

"Here," he extracts a small wad of bills tucked into his shirt and held together by the only gift Erwin has kept, an expensive money clip that disgusts Levi, but Erwin claims to be practical. 

Mike takes the money and he barely has to inhale before he huffs out a laugh. 

"Countess Hoch?" he asks.

"As pungent as ever," Erwin replies with a nod.

Mike unfolds the bills and hands the clip back. The money is shuffled in with the papers, which are straightened again and their hidden cargo will quietly find its way into the dismal treasury. Levi watches as Mike presses the papers to his chest, claps Erwin on the shoulder, and walks out the door.

Erwin seems to deflate a little once they're alone. His shoulders slump and his mouth drops into an exhausted smile.

"A bath, I think," he tells Levi. "Then bed. You should get some rest, it's getting late."

Midnight is called as he finishes, as if to emphasise the point. Levi rolls his eyes and starts off out the door, turning the opposite way to Mike and towards their own quarters. 

"You'll fall asleep in the bath and drown," Levi tells Erwin, he doesn't need to look back to know the other man is following him, "it'll be the most undignified way for you to die and the Survey Corps will become more of a laughing stock than it already is."

"I can bathe myself, you know," Erwin falls into step with him. "Quite well in fact."

"Not well enough, if Mike's expression is anything to go by," Levi counters. "And what's this about Countess Hoch?" 

"Ah," Erwin unlocks the door to his set of rooms and the lamp left burning low inside illuminates his amused expression as they enter. "The poor woman's heard bathing is unsanitary, prefers to douse herself in perfume rather than risk submerging herself in water. It's becoming quite the problem, so I hear, though the fragrance business is booming..."

Together they fill the bath with steaming water, whilst Erwin fills the room with idle talk regarding the goings on of the nobility, they both know neither of them particularly care for such news, but it's easy talk, and Levi can't help but snort a soft laugh at the thought that those who consider themselves so civilised choose to not only live in their own filth, but willingly cake on more layers.

Eventually the bath is filled, and Erwin strips his clothes off and settles into the water, stretching out as much as the tub will allow and resting his head back against the rim. Levi removes just his jacket, for the time being, and rolls his sleeves up. The soap on hand is a harsh yet practical one, strong with more of a medical scent than a perfumed one. Levi trusts it far more than the complicated oils and soaps others use for their body and hair, and so Erwin always ensures there's at least one bar for his use.

Levi stands by the edge of the bath, close enough that the top of Erwin's head is a gentle pressure against his stomach when he leans over the man to start soaping up what skin he can reach. It's not the most practical position, but Erwin often says, normally with a teasing smile, and normally followed by a swat of Levi's hand, that it's nice to see the dark-haired man tower over him for once. 

Erwin is lightly tanned for the most part, and the darker lines of calloused skin across his legs and chest from the constant friction of the manoeuvre gear mark him unmistakably as military. Levi runs a damp cloth over his soaped skin, rinsing it off and turning the water cloudy around Erwin's body.

"Duck down," he tells the man, and Erwin obediently dips his head below the water.

When he resurfaces the blonde hair is plastered to his forehead, and Levi's lips twitch in a smile at how much younger the commander looks like this. Erwin blinks the water from his eyelashes and raises a questioning eyebrow. Levi shakes his head and starts soaping up his hair. 

"Countess Hoch, is that the one who's husband likes to watch?" he asks, wiping the damp cloth across Erwin's forehead gently to stop the soapy water making it to his eyes, Erwin closes them anyway.

"No, you're thinking of Lady Hulet, though I admit they are similar in appearance..." Erwin hums thoughtfully as Levi's fingers massage the soap into his hair. "She was gracious enough to allow me to leave a whole hour earlier than she'd intended tonight, something about not feeling quiet up to it."

"You better not have gotten yourself sick," Levi ran his hands through the soapy strands, digging his fingers in just above the temples where Erwin tended to carry his tension. The blonde groaned softly, as if on cue, and seemed to melt further into the water.

Erwin's voice was barely a mumble when he replied, "you know me better than that." 

Levi scoffed and dug his fingers in once more, before removing his hands completely. 

"I know you're an idiot who forgets his own limits sometimes," he tells Erwin, and dips his hands into the bath water to rid them of soap. "Rinse that out, then sit up so I can do your back." 

He steps away from the bath and strips the rest of his clothes off, folding them neatly and setting them next to Erwin's. He hears gentle splashing as the other man does what he was told, and when he turns back Erwin's sat up in the bath, wet hair slicked back and clean. 

As Levi steps into the bath large hands rest on his hips to steady him, and guide him down to sit straddle Erwin's hips. Erwin can't quite extend his legs fully, and Levi leans back against strong thighs as he fishes about for the soap. The water is murky with soap, and crowded with the two bodies, Erwin's hand is doing something distracting near the small of his back and Levi has half a mind to swat at him before the hand retreats and holds up the soap for him. The grin he receives is definitely deserving of a smack, but when his hand connects with the chest before him it's lacking any sort of power.

Erwin wraps his arms around Levi, tucking his chin against the lean shoulder beneath it and feels the muscles flex as Levi brings his arms up to rub soap on his back. The movements are smooth and repetitive, only interrupted when Levi brings the damp cloth up to spread warm water over his back. Erwin dozes with the fresh scent of Levi's skin in his nose and it's softness against his cheek until he's nudged to get out and to bed.

\---

Levi sits and watches Erwin fill his paperwork. There's more papers than usual, more deaths, less limbs, and no Mike to help bear the brunt of it. Levi holds the papers still as Erwin scrawls his signature at the bottom, it's barely legible and his left hand is still clumsy with a pen. It'll get better, it'll have to with his right arm nothing more than a stump, but for now it looks like a child has taken to scribbling across the thick paper with its heavy words. 

His arm throbs still, Erwin can feel his pulse beating as his blood tries to rush to a limb that's no longer there. It feels like it's there. It feels like he can still flex his hand, stretch his fingers out until his knuckles pop. He can feel his hand itch and the skin crawl. He repeatedly makes aborted movements to take the pen that rests so awkwardly in his remaining hand, and Levi never comments. 

"Your sponsors," Levi begins instead.

Erwin finishes another signature, the flourish at the end his right hand could achieve so smoothly catching and dragging on the paper. Levi removes the letter and blows on the ink gently to speed it's drying. The envelopes he's folding the papers into are piling up, a neat and precise stack of identically worded condolences to the vast amount of families who lost someone in the same mission that took Erwin's arm. He folds this letter slowly and deliberately when the ink stops glistening in the remnants of natural light trickling through the window and slips it into an envelope. He addresses it with writing only a little neater then Erwin's and places it carefully on the pile. 

"My sponsors?" Erwin prompts when Levi makes no attempt to continue, nor to place a fresh letter before him.

"They can't be keen to see you now." Dark eyes flick to the empty shirt sleeve at Erwin's side, rolled up and sewn neatly into place with Levi's precise stitches. The sleeve twitches as broad shoulders roll in a shrug. 

"If needs must, I could-" 

Levi is cut off by a laugh so cold it startles him for the barest of seconds, Erwin's face twists itself into the gross imitation of a smile the other man has only seen a handful of times in the past, and despite the almost grotesque nature of it he can't bring himself to look away. 

"No, Levi," Erwin's expression softens, his eyes grow warm and his features fall back into place as he takes one of Levi's hands in his. The larger fingers are smeared with ink from the clumsy penmanship, and Levi begins to withdraw his own until the brush of lips on his knuckles cause him to halt. 

It's not a kiss so much as it's a caress, Erwin's breath is warm against the backs of his fingers, and his lips soft against the peaks of Levi's knuckles. He watches them for a moment, the pale and scarred skin of his hand contrasting the dusky hue of Erwin's lips. When he looks up and their eyes meet.  
Lying on the desk between them are a pile of condolence letters regarding half the members of the Survey Corps, outside a group of teens train and joke and fight to save humanity, the commander lets his captain's hand slip free has he retrieves his pen. 

"No," Erwin says again. He watches the letter Levi slides under his pen, poised and ready, the hand holding it steady despite everything and Levi watches as Erwin signs his name. The E is crooked, but the S is almost identical to that his right hand would produce. "It's far too late for that."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> This is unbeta-d, so my most sincere apologies.
> 
> First fic in over two years, and definitely first fic for this fandom, so please feel free to correct any mistakes, or point out where my tenses start to tap dance around, or where it gets far too OOC. Anything is welcome!
> 
> I am [gunsmokeandnicotine](http://gunsmokeandnicotine.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.


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